#PirateBay #ExtraTorrent – Pirate Bay, ExtraTorrent, Rarbg, Torrentz2, 1337x And Kickass Torrents: 2016’s Most Popular Torrent Sites Ranked : 2016 saw a huge shakeup in the torrenting world, reflected in the rankings of the most popular file sharing sites of the year. The Pirate Bay, ExtraTorrent, Rarbg, Torrentz2, 1337x and Kickass Torrents all ranked at the top of the list of recorded user traffic for 2016.

Before we go through the list, it is important to acknowledge the big news this summer that affected file sharers as well as directly impacted this year’s rankings, namely the July shutdown of then no. 1 torrenting website Kickass Torrents by the U.S. government and the subsequent voluntary closures of former top 10 sites Torrentz and Torrenthound. The loss of those sites caused the migration of users to alternatives, as well as the ultimate resurrection of two of those sites in new incarnations.

Most Popular Torrent Sites Of 2016

At year’s end, the rankings according to Alexa put The Pirate Bay at the top of the list, at number 120 in worldwide website traffic. After sitting at the top for years, The Pirate Bay lost its crown to Kickass Torrents earlier in 2016, but when that site was shut down, The Pirate Bay quickly shot to the top where it has firmly remained ever since.

Coming in second with a worldwide Alexa rank of 240 is ExtraTorrent. ExtraTorrent was a huge beneficiary of the closure of Kickass Torrents as well, with many former users migrating to the site due to its many listings and user-friendly interface. At no. 3 is Rarbg, which has also gained an impressive amount of new users since the shakeup and now ranks at 288 on Alexa’s worldwide website rankings.

In at no. 4 with an Alexa ranking of 431 is Torrentz2, which is essentially the second coming of meta search engine Torrentz, which closed shop soon after the closure of Kickass Torrents. The new version has quickly returned the Torrentz name to its former glory, as the original Torrentz ranked at no. 3 before it voluntarily shut down this summer.

1337x comes in at no. 5 on the most popular torrent sites, with a ranking on Alexa of 826. The site has worked hard to lure new users with an improved design as well as new community forums.

Kickass Torrents Returns To Challenge

Special mention goes to the newly resurrected Kickass Torrents, which hasn’t been around long enough to get an accurate Alexa ranking. Nonetheless, when the new site debuted earlier this month, its servers had trouble handling the resulting traffic surge, indicating that the latest version of the former most popular torrent site in the world was ready to challenge the current leaders in its new incarnation, ensuring that 2017 is set to be another interesting year in the world of torrenting.